“Like all sides, you can catch them on and off day and you can have a great day yourself. It is possible and it happens in sport the whole time. Granted, it hasn’t happened for us against the All Blacks, but it happens.”

“Listen, I had fun today. I have yet to finish 80 minutes this season. They’re looking after the old guy, but I’m enjoying it and it’s only my second game in blue this year. I love playing for this team.”

28 January: The centre reported for Six Nations duty at Carton House and remarked that he was ‘ready to empty the tank’ for Ireland. As for another Six Nations winners’ medal…

“You’d think that, most years, a Grand Slam winner is unlikely. It’s a bloody hard thing to do. Because of the calibre [of teams] and how the games are all so close now.”

11 February: Jamie Heaslip was at his mischievous best as he suggested O’Driscoll might stick around for one more year.

“There might be a chance of one more year again at the end of the season. You never know.”

“Whereas with us – not that there’s an element of telepathy – there’s an understanding that I don’t have with other people. I can see, having been in the situation lots of times with him, what he’s thinking.”

“[I would like to be remembered] as a team player, someone that was about winning as a collective. That’s why I think we play a team sport, because we enjoy that camaraderie of winning and sharing the disappointment of defeat.”

“It’s a pleasure to have been part of it. I don’t think there has been anyone like that in Irish sport.”

10 March: Thoughts immediately turned to an away win over France that would give ‘Drico’ a trophy-winning send-0ff. Chris Henry, though, reflected on the huge reception his teammate got as he left the pitch in the Italy game.

“It is crazy to think how many young kids he has inspired. I remember watching him when I was young and I feel very privileged to be able to play with him. It’s a sad day, of course, but it is also a happy day. The noise level when he came off on 60 minutes, I have never heard noise like it. It was pretty awesome.”

One of many things to make yesterday such a special day. Was overwhelmed by the crowd reaction & atmosphere. pic.twitter.com/a0VH7mi80n

“I’ve had so much fun over the last 15 years, and I feel very grateful to finish in this fantastic way.”

6 May: Success did not follow in the Heineken Cup as Leinster fell to Toulon at the quarter final stage. Teammate Gordon D’Arcywanted to win the Blues final three games to give O’Driscoll a league-winning consolation.

“Our natural skill-sets dovetail quite well and that trust that we’ve built up happened quite quickly and has lasted a long time. I’ve said this before but once you have that trust you can do quite well, you can cover and you can create a lot of stuff.”

“It doesn’t bother me too much, I’d say everyone else is fed up of it… [Retirement] will be hard. That’s why during the summer I plan on taking a few months completely off, just getting used to not being a rugby player and seeing what it feels like to be totally out of a team environment.”

“I always said you can’t plan anything in this game; what happens, happens and you’ve got to roll with the punches. It wasn’t a good day for me in the end, only getting eight minutes, but this [the celebrations] is what it is all about.”

As for the offloads, here is O’Driscoll at his best against the Italians to set up Jonny Sexton:

TheJournal.ie is a full participating member of the Press Council of Ireland and supports
the Office of the Press Ombudsman. This scheme in addition to defending the freedom of the
press, offers readers a quick, fair and free method of dealing with complaints that they may
have in relation to articles that appear on our pages. To contact the Office of the
Press Ombudsman Lo-Call 1890 208 080 or go to
www.pressombudsman.ie
or www.presscouncil.ie

Please note that TheJournal.ie uses cookies to improve your experience and to provide services and advertising. For more information on cookies please refer to our cookies policy.

Journal Media does not control and is not responsible for user created content, posts, comments, submissions or preferences. Users are reminded that they are fully responsible for their own created content and their own posts, comments and submissions and fully and effectively warrant and indemnify Journal Media in relation to such content and their ability to make such content, posts, comments and submissions available. Journal Media does not control and is not responsible for the content of external websites.